


Close Encounters of the Deadly Kind

by Gale-Of-Stories (Home_Sweet_Homebrew)



Series: Dance Around My Edges [3]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 14:05:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18592783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Home_Sweet_Homebrew/pseuds/Gale-Of-Stories
Summary: An error on your behalf puts a close friend in mortal peril





	Close Encounters of the Deadly Kind

**Author's Note:**

> This is connected to like NOTHING and has no context at all, just warning ya.

“Y-y’know this isn’t quite how I thought I’d go out.”

“Shut up you’re not going anywhere.”

You can see them out of the corner of your eye, past the upturned rubble and concrete dust. Dante is in a squatting position and bunched up into his arms is Gale, looking wispy and distant.

“Always...always been an optimist.” You can see her throat bob, the effort of even swallowing her spit seemingly difficult.

“You’ll be fine I just gotta- I gotta get you out of here then we’ll patch you up, okay?”

This is the first time in your life you think red doesn’t suit Dante. The color is running all down his hands and across his forearms from the gaping wound in Gale’s side.

“Sure hot stuff...you do that.” She manages a weak smile up at him, lifting her arm after a moment of struggle to press the back of her hand against his cheek.

You know that the odds for her surviving that are low, she’s no half devil like Dante.

Outside demons shriek and skitter, scrambling across rooftops and through the street, looking for anything they can rip into.

“Mmm...Dante…”

He hasn’t actually bothered to take his eyes off her since the demon managed to catch her. You can almost physically see the wound making him ill.

“Dante...you know I love you right, big guy?” Her grin is smug but faint, and her eyes barely remain open.

“Love you too little cyclone. Now shhh. Save your strength.”

It’s hard to shift your weight around without disturbing the rocks, but eventually you pick your way across the debris to them without alerting any of the demons above you.

She looks small like this, so lovingly cradled in Dante’s arms, it never occured to you she was fallible. He presses chapped lips to her temple and turns his gaze out of the hole in the wall.

It also never occurred to you that losing her might destroy Dante.

“I’m gonna try and find a path out of here okay?”

He barely spares you a nod, you can see the glisten in his eyes. “Just hurry.”

Turning toward the interior of the dilapidated building you take off full speed, feet clattering hard with the ground, you need to stay calm. _You have to stay calm._ Gale and in some form Dante is on the line.

Passing through a set of french doors sets you in the middle of a sprawling hotels east wing, rows and rows of identical doors line out in either direction and leave you feeling hopelessly lost, any one of these could be the one you need and you don’t have time to check them all.

The only thing you really can do is keep running, farther away from where Dante holds the dying form of your dear friend and the love of his life, and farther into danger, you only have the pistol Dante gave to you before, it’s still clammy and cold from being in your sweat slicked hand, and frankly large enough you probably shouldn’t even be wielding it.

You know you have to be careful using it, the moment it goes off everyone and everything will know where you are in the building.

You’ve passed through your third door by the time you stumble across a demon inside the building, the thing is tall and uncomfortably human in shape, like a very elongated rib cage and arms that droop low, swinging as it takes haggard steps.

You can’t tell if the thing has a face, or where it is, which makes stepping out into the hall a daunting thing, especially as you begin to pick your way across faster and faster.

The thing takes no heed of you, wandering aimlessly until-

_**Khrrrrk!** _

You can feel the wine glass shattering under your foot, and the sound is like a gun going off in the vacant hall. The creature whips around with more speed and precision than it should be capable of, and with a gutteral chirping noise it takes off running at you, its long spindly arms covering a terrifying amount of space as it dives over upturned furniture in its pursuit of you. You _can’t_ run back, and so you make a split second reckless decision.

You play chicken with a demon.

Running at it you wish you didn’t have to stay quiet, because at that moment you could scream, it swipes a long arm at you, weirdly stumpy fingers trying to catch you in its grasp and you barely roll past, colliding hard with sticky _cold_ flesh as you shoulder check it out of the way.

Luckily for you it’s stop is not as efficient as it’s start, and you manage to get several feet from it before it manages to stop and turn itself around, taking off after you again, you can’t see it but you can feel the thud _thud **thud**_ of the thing gaining on you quickly, with a quiet but frightened shout you barrel through a door and slam it shut behind you, the thing collides not a moment later, slamming into you and sending you off your feet.

It clearly isn’t bright enough to function a door because instead of just turning the unlocked knob it slams into it again, you can hear the crack of the doorframe trying to hold, and flip over onto your backside, crawling away as it continues to throw itself against the door furiously.

Eventually the door gives way, collapsing to the ground with splinters and sending the creature sprawling flat on top of it, it stands not a moment later and shrieks, lifting freakish gangly limbs to try and bludgeon you to death.

With nowhere to run and no other options you unholster the gun, flip off it’s safety and brace yourself, letting one decisive, loud shot direct to its torso.

The creature doesn’t seem particularly phased by the first shot, or the next three for that matter, but it makes no effort to attack, instead turning and leaving.

You already know why.

Above you you can hear it, silence too quiet for what’s happening outside, and as you strain your ears you pick it up.

Thousands and thousands of claws clattering against the roof, almost sounds like a hailstorm.

It’s everything you can do to get away from the window and say your goodbyes before it _explodes_ with motion.

First of all is the, yknow, the literal explosion, from the window, hundreds of little batlike creatures come pouring forth with the intention of eating you alive, second of all is the sudden surprised shriek of the creature that chased you into this room to begin with, and then you’re being pulled by your scruff backward with ferocity.

_**“Run! There’s a medical facility in the basement, now go!”** _

Vergil very nearly _throws_ you behind him as he turns towards the amorphous mass of blood thirsty death, and while you want to help, you’d just be a hindrance.

Now you have no reason to give a fuck and barrel recklessly through dozens of doors, bruising yourself a few times along the way. You also get slightly turned around and hate yourself for it, you don’t have time to waste.

“Come on, come on need supplies!”

You’ve managed your way into the medical office and want to celebrate, no one has ransacked the place yet and all the supplies are ripe for your taking, and that’s just what you do, the satchel is smaller than you’d like for all you need to do to save Gale, but you make it work as you desperately cram all the most vital ointments, gauze, sutures, needles and other material inside, hoping none of it breaks in your rush.

You think you know where you are in the building, and continue out from the main doors instead of turning around, you should already be close to Dante and Gale again, but you can’t get reckless now. You bend yourself down so you’re only at half height and begin a very steady, very _quiet_ run through the halls, you pass by several more demons, all much more familiar to you then the one you’d failed to sneak past before, and shudder as the building begins to visibly decay, you’re nearing the burn site.

The rug underneath you is charred from its original velvety red, and the walls are caked with ash and soot, doors broken off their hinges and shredded, certain parts of the ceiling are warped and bowing, as if the heat managed to melt stone.

You’re almost afraid to find them again, you don’t want to know, you don’t. But turning the corner reveals Dante, he’s moved to a sitting position with Gale resting on his legs, slouched all the way over as if unconscious, and gently petting her pale- ghostly white face with reverence. You can hear him whispering.

_“C’mon baby you got this… Stay with me now. Don’t let it be some stupid fuckin demon that kills you now. Not after you’ve survived me this long. Keep breathing baby…”_

“Dante.”

His head lifts wearily and he can see the supplies, he seems to hesitate for a moment, before that familiar glitter comes back. You approach quickly and check at her pulse, it’s fluttering and horribly weak, but she just might have a chance.

* * *

 

You never want to do that again, you almost messed up at least a dozen times, fingers slipping on the blood and wanting to cry everytime Gale made a wheezing rattle or Dante sniffled and pretended it was allergies instead of tears, you still feel like you forgot something, or missed something, or could’ve done something better, something something _something._

She’s not really getting better, or worse, she seems mostly stable, but you’re no professional and don’t want to get your hopes up. Dante doesn’t seem completely crushed anymore but now his worry and anguish is translating into a need to move and a deep agitation. On top of all of that neither of you have seen Vergil since he saved your ass before.

“You. Stay here. Watch her. I’m gonna go wipe more of these fuckers off the face of the Earth and then drag my dumbass brother back. Got it?” His voice is angry and clipped and you have no idea why his brother is a dumbass this time. But you know that he needs this, so you nod solemnly at him, he clenches his jaw and sighs before turning and practically running from the situation.

This leaves you entirely alone with her now. She’s quiet as a statue where Dante placed her on the bed, you have nothing else to do so you sit down beside her and stare at her face.

She looks a lot older like this, like her constant smile and enthusiasm masked up how long she’d actually been alive. You _hate_ it.

Truth is the shot was for you, you don’t know if Dante knows that, you don’t know if you’d be alive right now if he did. He might just kill you himself if he does find out.

You press your hand to her clammy skin and she barely responds to the sensation, a tiny flinch of the eyelids that lets you know that she’s still alive at all.

“How is she?” _**“Jesus fff-”**_

You jump on the spot and turn to see standing there haggardly is Vergil, there’s a cut dribbling blood down his forehead and his lovely coat looks a little singed, but he’s no worse for wear, his eyes are keen on you and betray no reaction to the sight of the near dead woman beside you.

“She...we don’t know. She’s not dead yet I guess.”

“Where’s Dante?”

“Converting his panic into seething rage, probably. He said he was gonna go find you too.”

“Mmm. He should be here with the woman. He would regret…”

He didn’t finish, but he didn’t need to. “I know... It’s just what he does.”

Vergil was awkward where he stood, stock still and kind’ve just staring.

“Are...you...okay?”

“Wh...I ah...yeah. For now yeah.”

You press your lips hard together and nod, this is a painful conversation.

He doesn’t press farther _thank fuck_ but instead drifts his way over to a chair, sitting down as stiff as he did that day he cleared out your basement what felt like decades ago now.

Silence blankets itself comfortably over your shoulders again, dripping down into the cracks of this room with a sigh.

You turn your head back to Gale and nearly jump, again. Her eyes are cracked open, _just barely._ And she has the ghost of an affectionate smile on her lips as she stares at you.

“You’re awake..! Hey!”

She doesn’t bother with a reply, or at least can’t yet, and lets her eyes close again, a sigh escaping her nose.

“...Good...mmm...good to be back…”

“Hey. I’m gonna get Dante okay..?”

She can’t muster much more than a hum in response and you’re out the door, luckily for you finding Dante couldn’t be that hard.

Not much more than a minute walk and you could hear the feral shouts and screams, not the demons mind you, but Dante’s. The courtyard was a nightmare, body parts from demons everywhere, the fountain water shiny and red with blood, bits of flesh stuck to the walls. You heard another loud, unhinged scream and a blur of red as a demons’ body caming crashing to the ground before splitting apart into several pieces.

He landed immediately after, entire body heaving with his breaths and his hair a wild mess.

“Dante!”

His head snapped up to look at you, he was covered in sweat and dirt and looked absolutely fucking manic.

“She’s awake.”

There was a moment of complete and utter disbelief across his face, like he couldn’t fathom that she actually survived this mess.

He gave you no response, just broke into a dead sprint past you and for the room you stowed away in, the man had been fighting for an hour now and yet still managed to leave you in the dust, though you suppose excitement may have something to do with that.

You followed his trail back, giving him a wide berth, it wasn’t really necessary but, you felt like they needed the space.

Apparently so did Vergil, as you rounded the corner he was already out of the room, you could see them through the hole in the wall, he was up on the bed leaning over her, you could just make out their faces, how red his eyes looked and the wavering smile on his face, and the way Gale gently scratched at his scruff, you don’t think you’ve ever seen Dante go this long being absolutely sincere with his emotions.

“I knew you’d make it.”

“No you didn’t…”

He let out of humorless laugh and looked down.

“No…Guess I’m trying to say I’m _glad_ you made it.”

“Me too...still gotta make it up to you for that awful pizza…”

“Wasn’t _that_ bad.”

“Sure it wasn’t…”

Vergil cleared his throat awkwardly from where the two of you stood.

“Perhaps you should consider continuing this conversation elsewhere? We have more pressing matters at hand.”

“Can you let me say hi to my girlfriend for one damn minute before you make me run off again, Vergil.”

“We don’t have time for your emotional rollercoaster, Dante, we need to go.”

“If she were the one that almost died, wouldn’t you want a moment to be a little fucking relieved too?”

Vergil blanched and looked away, hopping on the spot as if the insinuation of him caring enough about you to be worried made him panic.

“Irrelevant.”

Dante sighed exasperatedly through his nose, stared for a long... _long_ moment at Gale. And then flashed her one of his award winning smiles.

“Gotta go babe, but when I get back you’re done for.”

“See you then, tiger.”

You looked away, embarrassed as he proceeded to kiss her far more intensely than was appropriate.

And right at Vergil, who was staring at you.

You couldn’t read what was on his face, it was peculiar and...human. Wide eyed even.

“I…”

“Yeah…”

You could hear Dante laugh at the expense of the two of you as he stood and stretched.

“Keep an eye on her, ___”

“With my life.”


End file.
